Experience matters.

[OkaForPrez]

We've talked about the same things all year. Knowing how to win, iq, wasted possessions, et al ad nauseum. Some here argue that age and experience don't matter, that this team has largely won a ring and that they should be juniors by now. Ill argue the things that drive us crazy are intangibles that come with multi years experience.

I submit to you exhibit A.

http://statsheet.com/mcb/stattracker/experience/teams

This is an index of class/minutes played. Look where we are on this list. Look at the records around us. The lone outlier is UK and when you bring in the top 3 players in every class it doesn't really matter.

 

[partial]

I can't tie this into a witty rejoinder about experience mattering in sex, but there's the punch line work the rest out in your head.

 

[Fishy]

Great find, great post.

Someone will find some cliche to try to explain it away. Preemptively, they can suck it.

 

[champs99and04]

I agree to an extent, but that doesn't change the fact that this team has under achieved more than any other UConn team probably in the history of the program. We have all this individual talent but it hasn't translated to wins. Boatright, Bazz, Drummond, Lamb, Oriakhi, and Smith is as good a top six as you'll find outside of maybe UNC and UK. Instead of locking down on defense, challenging every shot, forcing players into the middle, and dominating, they've allowed guards to penetrate at will, given up open threes at the worst times, etc. etc.

What should have been a team that boasted the first or second best defenes in the nation, gotten easy points off turnovers, and been one of the most exciting teams to watch in the country. This isn't the 80's anymore. While freshman have more leeway than veterans, the "they're only kids" excuse doesn't go as far as it used to, with freshman and sophmores playing lead roles in championship runs pretty much every year.

With that said, you are right in that many of the mistakes this team makes on a regular base can be eliminated with basic experience. As talented as kids like Lamb and Drummond are, they aren't nearly as defined as kids like Nasir Robinson...kids who have had three or four years in the weight room.

 

[OkaForPrez]

The data is from this year man. I think you just walked right into fishy's suck it with the 80s line.

 

[partial]

Great find, great post.

Someone will find some cliche to try to explain it away. Preemptively, they can suck it.

It's like you started a countdown. In my head I had 30 minutes.

 

[champs99and04]

The data is from this year man. I think you just walked right into fishy's suck it with the 80s line.

I know the data is from this year. But UConn and Kentucky are a lot more comparable than UConn and UC-Irvine, wouldn't you say? I realize nobody is on Kentucky's level when it comes from recruiting, but how many four and five star recruits does UConn have in their regular rotation? Daniels, Oriakhi, and Drummond were five stars, Boatright, Lamb, Smith, and Napier were four stars.

By no means should they have it all figured out, but at times the team looks downright clueless out there.

 

[Fishy]

It's like you started a countdown. In my head I had 30 minutes.

I figured a half-hour as well - earlier in the day, it would have been about 12 seconds.

We probably could have worked out a roster of the rats that would take the bait as well.

 

[OkaForPrez]

Filter for the big east only. The bottom half of the league in terms of experience is directly correlated to the bottom half of the league in wins. Pitt is the only team that bucks that trend.

Yes talent can separate you from the pack but you have to execute consistently on both ends of the court first. You set your expectations on lambs floater and Drummond oops. What this data tells me is that ball control, defensive positioning, rebounding etc are "order qualifiers" that come with age. The "order winners" of the talent that lets this team do exceptional things don't play when you aren't competing in the basics.

They've underachieved their talent, but they've overachieved their age. We need to understand that.

 

[UCHuskies08]

I agree to an extent, but that doesn't change the fact that this team has under achieved more than any other UConn team probably in the history of the program. We have all this individual talent but it hasn't translated to wins. Boatright, Bazz, Drummond, Lamb, Oriakhi, and Smith is as good a top six as you'll find outside of maybe UNC and UK. Instead of locking down on defense, challenging every shot, forcing players into the middle, and dominating, they've allowed guards to penetrate at will, given up open threes at the worst times, etc. etc.

What should have been a team that boasted the first or second best defenes in the nation, gotten easy points off turnovers, and been one of the most exciting teams to watch in the country. This isn't the 80's anymore. While freshman have more leeway than veterans, the "they're only kids" excuse doesn't go as far as it used to, with freshman and sophmores playing lead roles in championship runs pretty much every year.

With that said, you are right in that many of the mistakes this team makes on a regular base can be eliminated with basic experience. As talented as kids like Lamb and Drummond are, they aren't nearly as defined as kids like Nasir Robinson...kids who have had three or four years in the weight room.

Underachieved to YOUR expectations, someone who is not at all involved with the team and doesn't know personally a single person on the team.

 

[superjohn]

Fishy you called that one, pretty easy to see coming with this board. Youth and the uncertainty with Calhoun and Boatright has certainly hurt us. You can look at Drummond as a can't miss nba talent with freakish athleticism but you also have to take into account that he's extremely young and extremely raw in a lot of areas. Sometimes these things take time, I like to look at the positives we showed today and think we can build from there. This season for us starts now!

 

[NOTaDIME]

Underachieved to YOUR expectations, someone who is not at all involved with the team and doesn't know personally a single person on the team.

Im pretty sure that we underachieved for Coach Calhouns expectations, the vast majority of the voters and analysts for NCAA basketball and the UConn fanbase including myself. Remember Calhoun said at the beggining of the year this team was more talented than last years National Championship team, so I think its more than fair to say theyve underachieved.

 

[UConnDad]

Have to agree this team has underacheived and not lived up to my lofty expectations. From the loss to UCF there were defensive problems which I hoped would be corrected. Have to remember it's all about momentum. If we get some we do have a few talented players. So let's hope we start rolling, gain some mo and then look out. Let's go!!!!!!

 

[bobbygt]

It's amazing how young Rutgers is! Granted, they are sub-5oo, but I didn't know that. Also, didn't know Kansas was that old.

The other interesting thing is that there is only ONE surefire tournament team (Kentucky) in the top 54 (OSU is #54).

Here are the 4 bubble teams in that range, although I think Bama is in:

8. Uconn
15. Bama
21. Texas
48. Washington

Of the top 100, there are only 4 tournament locks:
UK
OSU
Gtown
Memphis.

Great stats! Really shows how important experience is.

 

[Danzz]

Fishy you called that one, pretty easy to see coming with this board. Youth and the uncertainty with Calhoun and Boatright has certainly hurt us. You can look at Drummond as a can't miss nba talent with freakish athleticism but you also have to take into account that he's extremely young and extremely raw in a lot of areas. Sometimes these things take time, I like to look at the positives we showed today and think we can build from there. This season for us starts now!

Andre is freakish athleticly but he is extremely limited on offensive but as you said he is very young. He needs another year at Uconn to develop post moves and something other than a dunk. Can you imagine Andre with a good 10 foot shot?

 

[willie99]

great site, it's the same site I go to for +/- box scores

of course experience matters. Even when you look at NC, or mid-majors that make a run, they're dominated by upperclassmen with very few exceptions.

to argue otherwise is actually pretty silly

 

[champs99and04]

Underachieved to YOUR expectations, someone who is not at all involved with the team and doesn't know personally a single person on the team.

lol...I'm sure kids like Oriakhi and Lamb were sitting in their dorms when they heard about the Drummond committment going, "wow, I think the addition of Drummond puts us squarely on the bubble!". Get real. They've under achieved everybody's expectations. I don't think a single person involved with the program thought they would be in this position at the start of the season, and if they did, they're probably involved in the wrong program.

 

[caw]

lol...I'm sure kids like Oriakhi and Lamb were sitting in their dorms when they heard about the Drummond committment going, "wow, I think the addition of Drummond puts us squarely on the bubble!". Get real. They've under achieved everybody's expectations. I don't think a single person involved with the program thought they would be in this position at the start of the season, and if they did, they're probably involved in the wrong program.

I think you are right, but of course those expectations were based on having Boatright all year and Calhoun all but 3 games. I think if you had told everyone Boatright would miss a ton of games as well as Calhoun, everyone would have much lower expectations considering there were zero backups guards without Boatright.

 

[champs99and04]

I think you are right, but of course those expectations were based on having Boatright all year and Calhoun all but 3 games. I think if you had told everyone Boatright would miss a ton of games as well as Calhoun, everyone would have much lower expectations considering there were zero backups guards without Boatright.

The Boatright and Calhoun nonsense certainly hurt the team this season. Napier and Lamb pretty much had to play all 40 minutes in the nine games Boatright missed, and Blaney obviously is not the sideline presence Calhoun is, especially with a young team. That's the thing with Blaney--you can get away with him with an experienced team, but not with a young team.

 

[caw]

The Boatright and Calhoun nonsense certainly hurt the team this season. Napier and Lamb pretty much had to play all 40 minutes in the nine games Boatright missed, and Blaney obviously is not the sideline presence Calhoun is, especially with a young team. That's the thing with Blaney--you can get away with him with an experienced team, but not with a young team.

Yep, plus the SOS being one of the top 3 didn't help a young team. Even the BE schedule was probably one of the toughest ones. Lots of factors are the reason UConn is where it is, but it all comes back to youth. A more experienced team probably handles a lot of this better.